No. 16 Nebraska softball bashed its way to two mercy-rule wins Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. After pummeling San Jose State, 12-4, in six innings, the Huskers dominated Howard in an 11-1, five-inning victory.
Nebraska combined for 23 runs on 26 hits and seven home runs in the two games in rolling to their eighth and ninth mercy-rule wins of the season.
It was an emotional day for Coach Rhonda Revelle, who announced via X that her mother had passed away after a decade-long struggle with dementia. Revelle stayed with the team to coach the two games. Revelle’s sadness in losing her mother was contrasted by her joy in greeting former Husker pitcher/outfielder Tori Tyson, Howard’s head coach, for the second game. Tyson and Revelle had a lengthy hug and chat near home plate before the pregame ground rules meeting.
The first game against San Jose State started 0-0 through 2.5 innings. But in the third, the Huskers exploded. With the bases loaded and two outs, Hannah Camenzind hit a grounder toward shortstop that took a bad hop and shot out to left field, where it was bobbled by the left fielder. Three runs scored on the play to give Nebraska the 3-0. The next batter, Abbie Squier, clubbed a two-run home run to make it 5-0, NU. Ava Kuszak followed with a home run, then Jordy Bahl cleared the fence with a drive to center, then Samantha Bland followed with a roundtripper to left. Four straight home runs, believed to be a program record for most consecutive home runs in a game, pushed the lead to 9-0. After the Spartans scored three in the top of the fourth, Kacie Hoffman hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make the lead 11-3, Cornhuskers. San Jose State scored one in the fifth to cut the lead to 11-4, but in the bottom of the sixth, Abbie Squier laced an RBI double to polish off the mercy-rule win.
Squier led the offense in game one, hitting 3-for-4 with three RBI, a double and a home run. Four other Huskers had at least two hits. Kylee Magee earned the win in relief, pitching 2.2 innings of two-hit, one-run ball.
Like game one, it took the Huskers until the bottom of the third of game two against Howard to get going. Squier singled up the middle to begin the frame. With one out, Bahl ripped a double, scoring Squier to get Nebraska on the board. Emmerson Cope followed with a single to right to score Bahl and push the lead to 2-0.
In the fourth, the floodgates opened. Three-run home runs by Kuszak and Kacie Hoffman highlighted a nine-run outburst as Nebraska built its lead to 11-0. The Bison scored a run in the fifth, but could draw no closer as the Huskers finished their second mercy-rule win of the day and ninth of the season. Bahl paced the Husker offense by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double, but all nine Nebraska starters had at least one hit.
Nebraska will conclude its competition at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a 1 p.m. first pitch against Utah.